Entries tagged with non-smoker

I am now down to 6 smokes a day... and I'm finding it mostly ok but getting harder... I have to be really conscious of rationing them for the Must Smoke Now times in my day. I'm also getting more cranky. I'm blaming it on withdrawals... may not be the culprit but it'll do for blaming. The hospital has a program to help staff members quit smoking, so I made an appointment last week and now I have a months supply of Nicotine gum for free... which is helping a bit with making me less of a cranky bitch... and if one months supply is not enough, I can get an ongoing supply from the hospital pharmacy at cost price... woo...

The gum is not lovely, it tastes nice for about 5 seconds, and then it's less pleasant... but really, cigarettes didn't taste so good when I started in on them either... it's also annoying because it takes a while for the nicotine to hit your system, so I have to try and anticipate when I'm going to be REALLY craving a cigarette and have a piece of gum about half an hour before... Pfffftttt... yeah right. Coz I'm soooooo good at delayed gratification. Also, you can't just chew it like normal chewie, you have to chew it till you can taste the nicotine, then park it in your cheek, and when the flavour subsides, give it another brief chew and park it again, and so on until all the flavour is gone...

I'm putting leftover cigarette money in my ink pig... i have decided on next ink, i have the design printed and ready to take to tattooist... new ink in the next few weeks i think.

also... 6 more days of work till i am on holidays... 10 days till i'm in Tassie. Fuck yeah holiday!!!!

When I decided to quit smoking last Thursday, I was smoking anywhere between half a pack and a full pack a day, depending on what I was doing/stress levels etc. But at minimum half a pack, I decided that 13 cigarettes/day would be my baseline for starting to reduce, and so from last Friday phase one of The Plan - to smoke no more than 10 cigarettes a day - was implemented. So far so good. Last night I finally got around to nutting out the entire 10 week "Become A Non-Smoker" plan so I'm writing it down here for reference, and posterity.

Weekly cost of being a smoker: $54.60 (based on 13/day at average 60c/cigarette)

Week One: Oct 1 - Oct 7 Max. 10/day. Savings: $12.60

Week Two: Oct 8 - Oct 14 Max. 8/day. Savings: $21

Week Three: Oct 15 - Oct 21 Max. 6/day. Savings: $29.40

Week Four: Oct 22 - Oct 28 Max. 5/day Savings: $33.60

Week Five: Oct 29 - Nov 4 Max. 4/day Savings: $37.80

Week Six: Nov 5 - Nov 11 Max. 3/day Savings: $42.00

Week Seven: Nov 12 - Nov 18 Max. 2/day Savings: $46.20

Week Eight: Nov 19 - Nov 25 Max. 1/day Savings: $50:40

Week Nine: Nov 26 - Dec 2 Max. 3/week Savings: $52.80

Week 10: Dec 3 - Dec 9 Max. 2/week Savings: $53.40

From December 10 I will be a non-smoker, and if I put the money I am not spending on cigarettes in the money box for the 10 week weaning process, by the end of it I will have $378. I am going to try and do this, because I like the idea of having a bonus $378 right before Christmas :)

THE RULES: 1. Cigarettes cannot be saved up and/or carried over - any unsmoked cigarettes from each days allotment are deducted from the next days total. 2. I will not carry more than the days allowance with me, if someone bums a smoke from me that is one less for me. 2.1 I mayn't allow this to turn me into a stingy bitch, normal generosity rules must remain in place. 3. I may not bum smokes from anyone else, even if it's within my allowance. ** 4. I must track my progress on the wall chart (which I will draw up tonight). 5. I may not replace cigarettes with food of any kind. I am allowed to occassionally have a chupachup as a treat and to alleviate withdrawal symptoms and appease my oral fixation when I am really struggling. 6. I may not EVER bitch, moan, whine, discourage, preach at, harrass, criticise or otherwise annoy my friends who smoke. If I do, they have my full permission to tell me to pull my head in and/or fuck off. 7. I cannot smoke indoors. 8. I cannot buy a new pack until the old pack is completely gone.

** I didn't have any smokes at home yesterday morning, so I bummed a couple off Shane before eventually going to the shops and buying my own pack. I included them in my days limit of 10, but it was that situation that inspired this rule. If I don't have any of my own, I don't have any.